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The Manukau tradition
A brief history of local government in the area covered by Manukau City.
Bruce Ringer
Manukau City was formed by the amalgamation of Manukau County and Manurewa Borough in 1965. However, the history of local government in the area goes back much further than that.
On 6 February 1840 the Treaty of Waitangi was signed in the Bay of Islands and New Zealand became a British colony. Copies of the treaty that were brought south were signed at several places in the region: on the western banks of the Tamaki River, at the Waikato Heads, and on the Manukau Peninsula.
On 13 March 1841 the newly established town of Auckland became the colony's capital. It remained the country's capital until 1865, and was also the seat of the Auckland Provincial Council between 1853 and 1876.
Settlement gradually spread southward from Auckland. In 1847 and 1848 Fencible or militia settlements were established at Onehunga, Panmure, Howick and Otahuhu. During the 1850s farming settlements also developed at places such as Mangere, Wairoa (Clevedon), Papatoetoe and Papakura, sometimes near or alongside existing Maori settlements.
The early years of local government
A County of Eden had been proclaimed in 1842, stretching far both to the north and south of the isthmus, however, this remained a paper entity only. 'Hundreds' were the first form of local government established. These were set up in 1848, and included the Hundreds of Howick and Otahuhu. The warden of each Hundred looked after the roads and regulated the grazing of stock in public areas.
In 1851 the Borough of Auckland was proclaimed. This covered an area which included Howick to the east and Otahuhu to the south. It soon foundered because of parochial disputes and funding difficulties. Several other more-or-less unsuccessful attempts to form a viable government within the isthmus followed, before Auckland City was finally constituted in 1871.
The developing rural areas to the south of the isthmus needed some form of government of their own. A group of Mangere settlers rediscovered some old and forgotten empowering legislation and, in April 1859, established a Mangere highway district. This was the first local body unit of its kind, and was followed by similar districts in East Tamaki, Wairoa, Papakura Valley and Pukekohe.
In 1862 these pioneering highway boards were disestablished and replaced by new bodies under new legislation. (This early attempt at local body reform led to the cessation of public works for several months and a ratepayers’ revolt.)
Within the Manukau area, further highway districts were established at Pakuranga in 1863; Paparoa (near Howick) in 1864; Otahuhu, Howick Township, Turanga (Whitford) and Papatoetoe in 1865; and Manurewa and Maraetai in 1867; as well as other highway districts in the Franklin area to the south. Each highway board had the power to levy rates in its area for the upkeep of roads and bridges. Larger matters were looked after by the Provincial Council, if at all.
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